Democrat

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the state of Minnesota have agreed on a plan to provide $220,000 to control gray wolves that prey on livestock. The announcement came Wednesday from U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson. The Minnesota Democrat calls it welcome news for farmers and ranchers who haven’t been allowed to shoot or trap wolves that threaten their livestock since a federal judge in December put wolves in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan back on the endangered list.

A Republican state senator wants to split Minnesota’s health insurance exchange into two separate entities. MNsure currently signs up residents in private plans and public programs like MinnesotaCare and Medical Assistance. Sen. Michelle Benson unveiled a bill Thursday that would split those up.

Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk is cranking up the pressure to pass a major transportation package this year. The Cook Democrat said Thursday he thinks the Legislature will punt until at least 2017 if lawmakers fail this session to pass new funding for roads and bridges.

Sen. Al Franken’s margin of victory in Tuesday’s election was a landslide compared to his razor-thin win six years ago. In July of 2009, after a seven-month recount and a drawn-out legal challenge, Franken was finally declared the winner by just 312 votes. While the margin of Franken’s victory this time was predicted by recent polls, as recently as a year ago he was not expected to do nearly as well.

Wisconsin’s Republican Gov. Scott Walker won a hard fought election over Democratic challenger Mary Burke Tuesday, overcoming fierce opposition from unions and other liberal groups for his third victory in four years and cementing his position as a possible contender for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination.

U.S. Rep. and former Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan has been elected to a ninth term in Congress. Ryan defeated Democrat Rob Zerban on Tuesday. It was the second match between the two. Zerban also ran unsuccessfully against Ryan in 2012.

U.S. Sen. Al Franken and GOP challenger Mike McFadden met for a third and final debate Sunday evening, capping off a campaign that for McFadden and Republicans looks like the race that could have been. The two candidates brought their mostly sleepy campaign to a close by agreeing with each other more than ever before at the debate hosted by Minnesota Public Radio.

National Republicans are targeting Minnesota’s 7th District with a barrage of last-minute TV ads. That’s where Democratic U.S. Representative Collin Peterson is facing off with Republican Torrey Westrom.

Minnesota is only behind Washington in a ranking that shows the most liberal states, according to a study by The Hill. To determine the ranking, the study looked at history and voting trends in all 50 states, votes in recent presidential elections, breakdown of congressional delegations, the parties of the past three governors and control of the state legislatures.

A neighbor from the east is coming to Minnesota to give Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike McFadden a boost. Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson was expected to join McFadden in Rochester Saturday for a meet-and-greet with supporters. McFadden has pointed to Johnson as a political role model — like McFadden, the Wisconsin Republican was a businessman prior to winning his seat in 2010.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren is coming to Minnesota to campaign for fellow Democrat Sen. Al Franken. Warren and Franken plan a Saturday morning campaign event at Carleton College in Northfield. Warren will also help Franken rally campaign volunteers in St. Paul Saturday afternoon.

If voters grant Gov. Mark Dayton four more years, he says he’ll stick around for all of them. Dayton told The Associated Press in an interview this month that he’s heard the rumors he’d leave office before the end of a second term and catapult running mate Tina Smith into the top job. He says it’s not true.

Win or lose in the November governor’s election, Democrat Mark Dayton is in the final turn of a campaign run spanning four decades. It’s a chase that made a big dent in a personal fortune, dealt him humbling defeats and regularly exposed him to public ridicule.

Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton and Republican challenger Jeff Johnson picked up the intensity in a debate Wednesday before a northwestern Minnesota crowd, arguing about taxes, an oil pipeline and economic growth. Independence Party candidate Hannah Nicollet also took part in the 90-minute event — the second of five scheduled debates.

Republican Senate candidate Mike McFadden is making several promises for legislative action if he defeats Sen. Al Franken. McFadden vows to help write a balanced budget amendment — and a bill that would halt lawmaker pay if Congress doesn’t pass a budget — within his first 100 days in office.

With less than a month before Election Day, Republican Senate candidate Mike McFadden has less than $1 million banked to oust Sen. Al Franken. McFadden’s campaign says he raised more than $2 million in the three-month period ending in September. The total announced Tuesday is his largest during a fundraising quarter.

Minnesota 8th District Congressman Rick Nolan is the target of a barrage of Republican advertising with a tough, emotional edge. The ads from the Republican Congressional Committee make the claim that the Democratic Congressman is soft on terrorists.

Minnesota Sen. Al Franken has nearly $6 million in reserve as his re-election bid heads deeper into campaign season. Franken’s campaign released totals Friday for the first three months of 2014. The first-term Democrat reported raising $2.72 million, leaving him with $5.9 million in cash on hand as of April 1.

Minnesota’s Democratic-controlled House is considering a budget that spends another $322 million of the state’s surplus. Before discussion of the package began on Thursday, DFL leaders touted increased money for K-12 schools, caregivers for the elderly and disabled and roads battered by winter.